STORY
Katie Carmichael’s photographs pursue the transient and ethereal qualities of the natural world. With each image, the artist seeks to recreate an embodied and emotional engagement with the landscape.
Katie is a Melbourne-based photographic artist. Having grown up with a darkroom in her family home, her early appreciation of photography developed into an intuitive handling of the medium. She went on to major in Fine Arts at Photography Studies College, Melbourne before working for some of Australia’s leading commercial photographers. Her practice is now focused on individual artistic projects and large-scale commissions for architectural and commercial clients.
Collections
Rooted in a deep connection to landscape, this body of work explores the quiet dialogue between place, memory, and presence. Spanning remote coastlines, alpine terrain, and intimate natural details, each collection reflects a way of seeing that is both observant and instinctive — guided by light, atmosphere, and the subtle shifts within the environment.
Moving between vastness and detail, Katie invites a slower gaze—one that lingers, reflects, and reconnects with the enduring beauty and stillness found in the natural world.
Each collection is approached as a considered and bespoke body of work. Katie carefully guides the final outcome of each piece, selecting the most appropriate scale, format and framing to honour the integrity of the image and the experience of the landscape it represents. This thoughtful approach reflects a commitment to both craftsmanship and longevity.
Works are produced in limited editions of ten. A curated lookbook of earlier works is available via direct enquiry, and select pieces from past collections may also be acquired on request.
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Captured during a six-day hike through Tasmania in May, Overland documents a wilderness experienced in rare and extraordinary conditions. Beginning with extremes on the first day and unfolding into a week of mist, fog, snow, and soft shifting light, the journey revealed a landscape transformed—alive with atmosphere and rich in detail.
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Captured on a wet winter’s day, Howqua Trail follows a journey through one of Katie’s most treasured landscapes—Victoria’s Alpine National Park. High above the river’s bend, the trail winds through a place that Katie describes simply as feeling like home.
Rain brings richness to the landscape; colours deepen, the forest softens beneath a hanging veil of mist, and the abundance of life feels heightened in the stillness. Sound becomes singular and distinct—the running river below, birds calling through the trees, rain falling gently on leaves. Mist drifts through gathered trunks as the landscape settles into quiet solitude. This collection reflects the peace, perfection, and profound sense of belonging found in nature at its most serene.
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Captured at dusk along the coast of Flinders, this collection explores the ocean as both subject and movement—using the camera as a tool to isolate fleeting moments of beauty within the shifting tide. Rich with contrast, Flinders draws on the deepening tones of evening: inky blues, darkened water, and the final traces of light meeting shadow. Moody and immersive, the images hold a quiet intrigue—capturing motion in a way that feels both captivating and contemplative. The result is a study in depth, darkness, and the hypnotic rhythm of the sea.
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Captured during a special family journey through the Alps, Mont Blanc documents six days spent immersed in the vast beauty of Western Europe’s highest peak. Straddling the border of France and Italy, the mountain rises with quiet majesty above an ever-changing landscape of glaciers, ridgelines, and alpine light. Guided by foot through some of the world’s most breathtaking terrain, the days unfolded in awe and reflection – lost in thought beneath immense skies –while evenings were spent in the simple charm of mountain refuges. This collection reflects the grandeur, stillness, and profound beauty of a place long dreamed of.
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Captured in a moment of quiet just beyond the bustle of nearby Aspen, Colorado ski slopes, Aspen Trees reflects Katie’s discovery of stillness within a winter landscape of striking brightness and calm. Removed from crowded trails and constant motion, this opportunity offered a rare and luminous silence—its whiteness carrying a brilliance almost mystical in its purity.
Journal
Commissions
A rewarding part of my business is working directly with designers, private clients and architects to realise a shared creative response to the client’s needs.
I’ve worked on large projects and small. I am particularly proud of the commission of the Award Winning Little National Hotel in Sydney, Canberra and Newcastle. Developed by Doma Group in collaboration with leading Australian architects Bates Smart, I produced custom artworks which were installed in three hotels across 600 rooms and common areas and provide a distinctive response to the neighbouring urban context. I am involved at every stage – consultation, shooting, printing, framing, installation, logistics.
Katie interprets the landscape to reveal its significance. She is able to intuitively draw from the felt sense of an environment.
Do you have a location that is important to you? A remote family property, a meeting place, a holiday destination. Please reach out to discuss your project.
Process
Printing / FRAMING
For over 12 years Katie has collaborated with the team at FINI in Abbotsford, Melbourne. Fini are experts in printing and framing fine art at the highest quality. Each bespoke piece is produced with meticulous care and attention. Every collection offers a single size, thoughtfully selected to best suit the work. Custom sizing for specific projects can be discussed directly with Katie. Archival pigment printing, also known as Giclée Printing, is a high-quality method used for fine art prints, photographs, and premium reproductions. Fini printers are calibrated to deliver exceptional colour accuracy, sharpness, and detail. A key benefit of archival pigment printing is its longevity. Katie’s photographs are printed with pigment-based archival inks to 310gsm Hahnemühle cotton rag paper; these works can as such last for decades without fading or deterioration, provided they are properly cared for and displayed.
Framing
Delivery is arranged by specialist art freight companies and complete care is taken from when the artwork leaves the studio, ensuring efficient and safe delivery within Australia.
Katie works with trusted professional art installers and is able to recommend these depending on where the works are to be installed. For larger commercial projects Katie collaborates with the team at FINI to ensure all aspects of delivery and installation are taken care of.
Delivery and Installation
FINI frames are crafted from locally sourced, sustainable Victorian Ash, and are hand stained and finished on site in their Abbotsford workshop. Katie has selected custom timber finishes for each work. Archival prints are dry mounted to 5mm Kapa aluminium composite board and framed with spacers behind Tru Vue AR70 anti-glare art glass. The glass's non-reflective and UV filtering properties allow for perfect clarity while protecting your photograph from harmful UV rays for years to come. UV grade acrylic glazing is available on request for artworks displayed in high traffic areas.
Just slow things down and it becomes more beautiful.
DAVID LYNCH